Choosing the Time of Your Next Worship Service
For years churches have moved to multiple worship services instead of building bigger buildings, which is a wise use of the facility the Lord has provided to the church. When adding a second service, the choice is fairly simple. While the times may vary from context to context, two services “back to back” make it […]
5 Reasons We Struggle to Rest
July is often a time many ministry leaders rest. For years it has been a time when I have taken some extra time to slow down, read more, vacation with my girls, and not go to the office as much. Whether you rest in July or not, you do need to rest. Rest is not […]
3 Reasons Kids Ministry Is Important
The last two weeks have provided great reminders to me about why kids ministry is so important. I served as camp pastor at CentriKid camps for a week. The whole family came and we had a great time. The kids participated in Bible studies, recreation, track times based on their interests, and morning and evening […]
College Food, Colliding Values, and Ministry
Malcolm Gladwell started an educational firestorm when he compared two universities in his popular Revisionist History podcast. Gladwell compared the food offered in the cafeteria at Bowdoin College with the food offered at Vassar College, along with which school is able to help lower-income students attend their college. Both are liberal arts colleges, and Bowdoin, […]
God Made a Farmer and a Ministry Leader
One of my favorite Super Bowl commercials in recent memory was this commercial by Ram Trucks, using Paul Harvey’s 1978 speech “God Made a Farmer.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMpZ0TGjbWE My grandfather was a farmer in Illinois. Though he passed away many years ago, my respect for him has not waned. He started farming at a young age, while […]
5 Lessons from Fallen Pastors
Pastors and ministry leaders are not above character implosion and wandering from the Lord. In time, their wandering manifests in a variety of self-destructive and disqualifying behaviors. In the last several years, I have thought a lot about “fallen pastors.” My role at LifeWay provides a painful view of the fallout. As pastors are removed […]
4 Reasons Ministry Leaders Don’t Get “The Real World”
I was 27 years old, serving as an executive pastor and working with a team of people in the church on updating our personnel policy handbook—a necessary thing to do but not one that will change the world or breathe life back into your soul. One gentleman recommended we change the church office hours to […]
5 Mistakes Church Leaders Make in Their Preschool Ministry
A church’s ministry to preschool children is extremely important in building a strong foundation of faith for the children and in reaching and ministering to young families. Preschool ministry is a mission-critical ministry of the church in that it invests in families at a critical juncture in the lives of both parents and children. Because […]
5 Misconceptions About Pastors
All-star Cleveland Cavalier Kyrie Irving recently told the sports media that he believes the earth is flat. He insists he has done the research and has rejected the propaganda deployed against us to convince us that the earth is round. When asked about it, Lebron James responded, “Kyrie is my little brother. He’s my All-Star […]
1 Big Question Church Leaders Must Ask About Leadership Development
When ministry leaders start to consider an intentional plan for developing leaders, inevitably they get to this question. The answer to the question will dramatically impact how they execute leadership development. Here is the big question about leadership development for church leaders: What will be centralized? Some churches centralize everything. They appoint someone to oversees […]